DJPbaltimore:'John Kerry is an honorable person and would not call out the Russians if there was not evidence', 'the 2 of you are russia stooges'in foreign policy there are no eternal friendships or eternal enemies, only eternal interests

It's hardly news. It's widely known that UKSF (Along with several other nations) are heavily involved in training Syrian opposition forces. They would be more heavily involved had parliament voted against wider action in 2013(?).

The name of the game is holding back Iranian and Russian influence in the area. Abject failure on both goals, and yes, it has almost certainly prolonged the civil war.

The operation was not disclosed to US congressional intelligence committees as required by US law, and "the involvement of MI6 enabled the CIA to evade the law by classifying the mission as a liaison operation"Hersh noted that "many of those in Syria who ultimately received the weapons were jihadists", some affiliated with al-Qaeda. Indeed, it is believed that Qatar – which was the UK's key ally in overthrowing Gaddafi and was now repeating its role in Syria – was pouring weapons and cash into Nusra. The Telegraph reported on a Middle Eastern diplomat saying that Qatar is responsible for Nusra "having money and weapons and everything they need"..

Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, later said this massive quantity of arms ended up going "almost exclusively to the more jihadist groups". Nusra and another hardline Islamist group, Ahrar al-Sham,

In Autumn 2013, Britain began a major refocus of its campaign to support the Syrian opposition, known to be dominated and driven by extremists and jihadists

It is not clear which militant groups British officials met, but a new coalition, the Islamic Front, emerged around this time, and included Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham. The latter had regularly worked with Nusra and IS until January 2014. Ahrar al-Sham's co-founder, Abu Khalid al-Suri, was al-Qaeda’s representative in Syria before being killed in February 2014, and he was linked to the 2004 Madrid bombing through a series of money transfers and personal contacts.

etc

DJPbaltimore:'John Kerry is an honorable person and would not call out the Russians if there was not evidence', 'the 2 of you are russia stooges'in foreign policy there are no eternal friendships or eternal enemies, only eternal interests

Hong Kong’s role in a pan-Asia secret rendition programme run by US and British intelligence services should be scrutinised as part of a top-level inquiry, a former British cabinet member has said.

The call from former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind came as it emerged a prominent human rights barrister retained to pursue legal action against the Hong Kong government over an alleged role in the CIA and MI6-led rendition programme – which included cloak-and-dagger operations in Malaysia and Thailand – was no longer involved in the case.

The new probe became a possibility after Britain issued a full public apology earlier in May to Abdul Hakim Belhaj – an opponent of Libya’s then ruling regime led by the late dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

In 2004, Belhaj and his wife Fatima Boudchar – who was 4½ months pregnant at the time – were abducted in Kuala Lumpur following a tip-off from Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) before being transferred to an alleged CIA black site in Thailand.

The couple were taken to Libya, where they were tortured and Belhaj was sentenced to death. The couple were subsequently released.

While the Belhaj ordeal has remained in the headlines, an almost identical case – also in 2004 – in which senior Hong Kong officials allegedly sanctioned an illegal detention and secret rendition on the say-so of US and British intelligence, has received scant coverage.

It involved the 12-day detention at Hong Kong International Airport of Libyan national Sami al-Saadi, his wife and their four young children, followed by their forced repatriation – also via Thailand – to the Tripoli torture cells of the Gaddafi regime.

Maybe the new CIA head can help out ...

"Are you going to believe me or what you see with your own eyes?"

“It doesn’t matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”

DJPbaltimore:'John Kerry is an honorable person and would not call out the Russians if there was not evidence', 'the 2 of you are russia stooges'in foreign policy there are no eternal friendships or eternal enemies, only eternal interests

Jeremy Corbyn has suffered his biggest Brexit rebellion in the Commons as nearly 90 backbenchers defied his orders and six junior frontbenchers resigned from their roles.

It follows the Labour leader’s decision to instruct his MPs to abstain on a Lords amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill that would have kept Britain in the European Economic Area (EEA) after Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

In total, 74 Labour MPs voted for EEA membership while 15 voted with the government against the so-called Norway model – bringing the rebellion to 89.

On the Conservative benches three MPs defied Theresa May and voted for the EEA amendment, including the prominent pro-EU MPs Anna Soubry, Ken Clarke and Dominic Grieve.

"Are you going to believe me or what you see with your own eyes?"

“It doesn’t matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”